AWB market update

Wheat had a choppy day of trading on Friday, with influences pushing it in both directions. The wheat to corn spreads came into play, as the US harvest moves further to the North. It was reported that a commodity group has lowered its expectations for the Australian harvest by as much as 2.5 million tonnes on reports of drier conditions, with an increase in export pricing cited as evidence of this.

Elsewhere the Russian and Canadian crops continue to shape up to an impressive size, and speculation is rife that Chinese demand may be on the rise again.

Chicago wheat for Sept 2013 is 2 cents higher at 643¼ US cents a bushel.

Corn traded mostly lower on Friday, positioning ahead of potential weekend rainfall in areas of the Corn Belt. With harvest beginning to gain momentum, and moving steadily North, the market was eager to choose a direction ahead of the US Labour Day long weekend.

However much of the speculative action was removed from the corn complex and the outlook, for the weekend at least, remained bullish. Elsewhere, it was noted that whilst ethanol margins are in good shape, production levels have reduced slightly.

Chicago corn for Sept 2013 is 2¼ cents lower at 495 US cents a bushel.

Canola contracts were drawn lower in Friday's session in Winnipeg, with reports of traders liquidating positions ahead of the long weekend in the US and Canada. Further to this, US soybean estimates are expected from private firms this week, and with potentially more favourable weather conditions on the radar, traders were eager to clear positions whilst ahead. Also working against a pricing premium was the on-going expectation that Western Canada is on its way to a record canola crop.

Winnipeg Canola for Nov 2013 is $3.80 lower at $522.30 Canadian dollars per tonne.

The Australian dollar is currently trading at 0.8926 USD.